Mar 8, 2010

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Daily Markets - Financial News And Opinions

Anticipating Stock Dividend Increases

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 03:01 AM PST

I am a big fan of companies that make it a regular habit of dialing up a dividend. This is why I have been such a proponent of the dividend aristocrat group. Nothing perturbs me more though than to buy into a 2% dividend stock that I believe will crank up its rate only to be forced to wait multiple years before seeing that increase. To counteract this here is a simple parachute that can increase your confidence that a rate will increase.

CFO Turnover

In order to be confident that our … [visit site to read more]


When Correlations Collide: Is Global Stock Diversification Good?

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 02:01 AM PST

If you pick up any finance textbook, it’ll tell you that international diversification is good. International diversification is good because the returns on stocks in different stock markets, in different regions, are supposed to be un-correlated, hence falling markets in one region can be offset by growth in other regions. The key phrase in that sentence is supposed to be. A brief look at the chart below illustrates why:

Click on the chart to enlarge

I compiled monthly returns data … [visit site to read more]

Penny Mining Stocks, U.S. Dollar And Gold

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 01:01 AM PST

Penny mining shares are poised for incredible gains in the next 12 - 18 months. But before we discuss the details we believe it is necessary to lay a foundation with a brief discussion of the U.S. Dollar and gold.

Seems the world is fixated on the U.S. Dollar and many see it going substantially higher. In our opinion, the charts do not support that conclusion and we see the dollar having topped out and now heading lower.

A declining U.S. Dollar normally gives gold a strong under tone and … [visit site to read more]

Is Your Biotech ETF A Leader Or Laggard?

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 01:00 AM PST

As the array of ETF product offerings has expanded in recent years, the biotech space has seen significant activity. Currently, there are five biotech ETFs that have accumulated nearly $3.5 billion in aggregate assets. Each of these funds focuses on stocks in the biotechnology industry, and in many cases there is significant overlap between the top holdings. But as the relative performance of these funds so far this year has shown, the biotech ETFs available to U.S. investors are far from … [visit site to read more]

Video: Tomato Prices Spike On Supply Shortage

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 01:00 AM PST

Frigid temperatures in Florida took a toll on the winter tomato crop. … [visit site to read more]

The Canary Keels Over?

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 12:54 AM PST

I have written before that Britain and Pound Sterling (GBP) could be the canary in the mine for the US because of the similarities in their economies, except that the UK is not in the envious position of being the issuer of a major reserve currency.

These days Pound Sterling is falling apart. What’s more, the UK housing market seems to be moving into double-dip territory:

The housing market seems set to undergo its own “double-dip” recession, with Halifax announcing yesterday that there … [visit site to read more]

Toyota’s Woes Justify A Diversifed Portfolio

Posted: 08 Mar 2010 12:01 AM PST

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has received a lot of bad press the past few weeks. The company once known as the “best car company” that produced high quality affordable cars has becoming the laughing stock of the car industry . Toyota has manufactured millions of cars with multiple defects in them, and then allegedly tried to cover up the defects.No doubt Toyota will lose billions of dollars from this fiasco. I am giving a really rough estimate here, but Toyota plans on recalling around 10 million cars. … [visit site to read more]

Three ETFs To Watch This Week: EWI, BNZ, FXF

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 11:11 PM PST

ETFs started March on a high note as major indexes gained over 1% for the week. This surge came after a jobs report indicated the unemployment rate held steady at 9.6%, beating a projected increase to 9.7%. Industrials and technology stocks were some of the best performers, as 1,000 jobs were added to the American manufacturing industry and Apple reached an all-time high in share price.
Below is a look at three ETFs that could be on the move this week amidst central bank meetings, data … [visit site to read more]

Contrarian Investing: Is Now The Right Time To Buy Solar Stocks?

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 11:01 PM PST

The world is about to change forever.

The International Energy Agency predicts China will surpass the United States as the world’s largest energy consumer shortly after 2010.

U.S. consumers are already starting to see the impact. In the midst of an anemic recovery, oil is above $80 a barrel, the national average gasoline price is $2.57 a gallon, and natural gas prices are still more than double what they were for decades.

There will be corrections, but energy prices are going higher … [visit site to read more]

Crude Oil Breaks The US Dollar Rule For The Summer High Noon

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 10:01 PM PST

Crude oil surged to its highest level in almost eight weeks and gasoline also rose to a 17-month high after the U.S. employment declined less than forecast in February. Encouraged by the upbeat news, investors moved into oil on the expectation that fuel demand will climb as economic growth picks up pace.

Extending the impressive gains of 9.3% in February, crude oil for April delivery settled at $81.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the highest closing price since … [visit site to read more]

A Yen For Asian Pacific Banks

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 09:43 PM PST

Jimmy Rogers, traveling the world from his Singapore home base, is adamant when he states that most western countries in debt up to their eyeballs to the Asian Pacific world face an economic holocaust. How this plays out is open to speculation, but many scenarios look grim for the spenders and bright for the lenders.

Investors who want to explore exposure the Asian Pacific region may want to explore regional banks with a strong yield that are traded in US markets. I like three of … [visit site to read more]

Will The British Pound Be The Next Victim Of Currency Speculators?

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 09:01 PM PST

In my December 26 Money and Markets column I focused on the outlook for 2010, and the looming threats to global risk appetite. I warned that sovereign debt problems posed a major threat to global economic recovery. And I concluded that this threat represented a catalyst for a return of global risk aversion.

I also said that in a global crisis, these sovereign debt fears have the ability to be contagious. Such fears can destroy investor confidence in the capital markets of troubled … [visit site to read more]

The Washington DC Uncertainty Principle

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 08:01 PM PST

Sears Holdings (NASDAQ:SHLD) shares the stated goal of many public officials of creating jobs. But, we don’t believe that we need large government programs to generate these jobs. Public officials often fail to recognize the obstacles they place in the way of job creation. For example, over the past year proposal after proposal has been put forward to reform health care, reform the financial system, increase taxes, and add regulations, all with the intention of making the United States a … [visit site to read more]

China Driving ETFs

Posted: 07 Mar 2010 07:01 PM PST

When it comes to the global economy, China continues to be the talk of the town.  To take it a step further, the nation, expected to witness the largest economic growth in 2010, is said to be driving the fate of exchange traded funds (ETFs).

According to a recent Securities and Commission filing by the Chinese Investment Corporation (CIC), the sovereign wealth fund holds north of $9 billion in U.S. equity investments.  The detailed filing further indicates the following allocations:

… [visit site to read more]
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